INTEL HAS SAID it has starting sampling Nehalem-based chips code-named Jasper Forest. Jasper Forest is the first time Intel has integrated the I/O hub directly inside a processor, eliminating the need for a separate I/0 controller, said Steve Smith, vice president digital enterprise group operations at Intel.

The integration helps reduce the power drawn by a system while saving space on a motherboard, Smith said.

In one test, Intel took a quad-core Xeon chip based on the Nehalem micro architecture into which it integrated the I/0 hub and netted 27 watts of power savings.

"We have removed a fairly large-footprint chip and saved power by integrated [the I/0 on to a single chip," Smith said.

The chips will provide similar performance to existing Intel Xeon processors, Smith said.